Good Fortune

A Chinese farmer had a horse for tilling his fields.

One day, the horse escaped. It ran off to the hills. All the farmer’s neighbors sympathized with the poor farmer over this bad fortune. The farmer replied, “Oh, do not worry about me, friends. I am not so concerned about this.”

A week later, the horse returned, accompanied by a second horse, the most beautiful one any of them had seen. When the neighbors heard, they came over to congratulate the farmer on this sudden good fortune! His reply was only “We shall see whether this is good fortune or not”.

The farmer’s son adopted the new horse as his own. He rode every day. After a while, he fell off and broke his leg. A terrible injury. The village was saddened. “What terrible fortune!” The farmer did not give in to emotionalism: “Perhaps. We shall see.”

Two weeks later, the army marched into the village. A war was underway. Every able-bodied youth they found was conscripted. The farmer’s son was spared service for his broken leg. Good fortune, no doubt.